The present invention pertains to fishing line releases, which are particularly useful in offshore fishing. When participating in offshore fishing from a fishing boat, it is common to use both downriggers and outriggers. The former accessories, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, permit the lure to be fished at a predetermined depth by releasably attaching the fishing line to a weight supported from the boat by a separate cable and reel assembly. The latter accessories, as will also be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, permit the lure to be fished from a point laterally spaced from the boat by releasably attaching the fish line at the outer extremity of a rod or pole-like member which extends from the boat in a direction generally perpendicular to its fore-aft axis. The releases, which attach the line to the outrigger or the downrigger weight are typically frictional in nature. A fishing line release must have sufficient frictional grip to hold the fishing line during trolling or the like, and also be able to release the fishing line when the lure has been struck by a fish.
Typically, a pincer-type fishing line release includes a pair of opposed pincer members each having a body portion and a jaw offset but connected thereto via a neck portion having a reduced transverse dimension. The releases operate such that as the body portions are moved toward one another, the corresponding jaws are separated. The difficulty which arises in connection with these devices is due to a gap which exists between the jaw of one pincer member and the adjacent neck portion of the other pincer member. More specifically, if the fishing line becomes oriented along the base of the jaws, through initial positioning or other movement due to trolling or striking by the fish, the fishing line can become lodged within this gap. This result will frustrate the objective of the release, in that the fishing line will be hopelessly entangled with the release and thereby remain attached to the downrigger line. At worst, the fishing line breaks. At best, the release must be hauled in and the line disentangled therefrom, significantly decreasing the fisherman's enjoyment of the sport.
In an effort to alleviate the difficulties encountered in using these pincer-type releases, one suggestion has been set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,933 issued Oct. 13, 1987 to Shaw, and entitled FISHING LINE RELEASE. In this device, each jaw is provided with a projection near one side thereof and an aperture on the other side thereof, such that the projection of one jaw is received within the aperture of the other jaw when the jaws are closed. These projections act as barriers which abut the fishing line and preclude the possibility of the fishing line becoming entangled in the gaps formed between the jaws and necks as discussed above. However, this construction makes for a cumbersome manufacturing process since it requires that the projections on each jaw be aligned in their corresponding apertures. Further, despite the addition of the projections, the fish line can still be trapped behind the pad. Also, since the projections are tall and spindly, they are susceptible to breakage.